I think being a dad taught me to appreciate the little things in life. One I'll never forget was when my 3yr-old daughter drew something that actually looked like the thing she said it was; an angel.
I was really PO'ed that day. I'd applied for a job as a heavy equipment operator and got a call-back from the lady who did the hiring for the company. She said I had to be interviewed by a foreman, but the job was mine. She said the foreman checked that my certification and license were current and that I had the right work experience, and the interview was just a formality, required by corporate heads, just to cross all the t's and dot all the i's .
She called on Thursday, scheduled my interview with the foreman for the following Monday, and told me to be ready to start work the same day. "Bring a helmet," she said, "and a safety vest if you have one."
So while the kids were in school and day-care on Friday, I started moving all our stuff to a storage unit in the city where this job was, about 60 miles from where my and the kids were living. When I picked the boys up from school, I told the office lady that we were moving and I'd call in a few days to tell her where to send their school records. I always paid day-care a month in advance, and we were only 10 days into the month when I told them my 3yr-old daughter wouldn't be back, so I told them to keep the balance.
That evening, I rented a tow-trailer to haul our last load of stuff, filled my gas tank, and off we went to the new city.
After unloading and returning the trailer, I got a room for me and the kids at a motel. It had 2 full-sized beds for the kids, a folding cot for me, and a kitchenette with a little stove, a mini-fridge, and a small microwave. We left our tooth brushed and whatnot there, and went to the nearest grocery store to load up on stuff I could cook in the kitchenette, plus a case of water, and some snacks for the kids.
Since the motel had a pool, we went to a department store next, where I got each of the kids a swimsuit, a beach towel, a pair of Zorries, some pool toys and sun-blocker, and grabbed a swim vest for Maud, and a pair of swim trunks and a beach towel for myself.
Saturday evening, while the kids played in the pool, I visited the motel's cocktail lounge, which was right next to the pool. I had a few whiskey & Cokes and watched the kids swim while I got to know the bartender and a few tourists and several permanent residents who lived near the motel. One of them was a really cute gal, and the lounge had a live band, so I danced with her a couple times on the pool deck.
Me & the kids had a great weekend, and even though I'd already spent several hundred bucks just to get there, the motel's rate for a week's stay was pretty reasonable considering the amenities ($65, if memory serves...in the mid-80s), and the storage unit was paid up for a month, so I didn't feel massively pressured to find a rental home.
Monday morning, I took the kids to a kid's academy that I'd already made arrangements with the Thursday before, paid a month in advance for my 3yr-old daughter's daycare and the boys' after-school program, and made it on time for the interview with my new foreman, helmet in hand, safety vest on, ready for work at my new job.
"I'm sorry, sir, that position was filled."
That's what the lady at the front desk told me.
So I said, "Yeah, I know....by me. I'm the one that filled it. I mean, I'm the guy who was hired....Frank Murr. Are you the person I talked to last Thursday?"
"I'm afraid you're mistaken, sir. The man who was hired just left for the job sight. In fact, you just missed him."
Needless to say, I wanted to break someone's neck.
I picked up the kids, picked up a pizza, and went to our motel room. I was so freakin' bummed. I'd uprooted my kids from their home, pulled the boys out of school, and they only had time for a quick goodbye to just a few of their friends. I was nearly broke, unemployed, had about 1/4 of a tank of gas, only a few days left at the motel, and we had nowhere to go.
We were screwed, and it was my fault, and I sat there stewing over that when little Maud toddled up to me with a sheet of paper. "Dis fo' you, Daddy."
I had to blink the water from my eyes to see it. "What is it, honey?"
"A angel. I made you a angel, Daddy."
And there it was, drawn with a pencil, wings and all....a fat, flying angel with a big goofy smile on the side of it's oversized head.
I still have it; Maud's angel. A reminder over the years to never give up, and that my kids needed me, but also that they loved their Daddy, and that nothing in my entire world was bigger than that.
